How would you like to attend a revival or church service with constant laughing? Then look to Rodney Howard Browne or those who support his ideas.

Rodney Howard Browne calls himself the “Holy Ghost Bartender”. His mission was to get people drunk and laughing in the spirit and he called it Holy Laughter. But is this so called spirit really from God? You’ll see that this so called Holy Laughter is demonic and not of God from what I see.

Remember what John wrote in John 1:41 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

The Holy Laughter phenomenon was mainly popular during the ‘90s and it got started at the Toronto Blessing in 1994. It got started by Browne at a small church near Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Canada. Then it got popular and spread to other churches and other pastors claimed it was a new movement of God.

But what about remembering this verse when we see somebody deciding to bring something new into the church?

“But the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1 MKJV).

Some videos on holy laughter:

Here’s Kenneth E. Hagin and Kenneth Copeland getting involved. [link] At the 1:30 mark, Hagin’s laugh sounds pretty creepy. And how did he make everyone fall over? I’ll admit that red-haired girls laugh towards the end of the video sounds funny though and almost makes me want to laugh along.

Only a few people laughing here. I wonder why? And the preacher is preaching as the laughter goes on. [link]

I believe that’s what I am seeing in Holy Laughter. A spirit not of God.

When I see and hear Holy Laughter, it makes me uncomfortable. The way the people laugh even sounds evil and demonic. Oftentimes, the laughter sounds like it comes from monkeys, hyenas and other kinds of animals. Sometimes they fall over, lay on the floor and say they got drunk in the spirit. Sometimes the laughter sounds like it’s from an evil villain you might see on tv, laughing over his evil plans to take over the world. The laughter doesn’t sound like natural laughter. And it’s followers claim that this is what the people did on Pentecost in Acts 2 because they appeared to be drunk to observers. No mention of laughing is there, no mention of falling onto the floor either, being “slain in the spirit” and the only behavior that makes the believers look drunk appears to be speaking in tongues.

Holy Laughter followers use Acts 2:4, 7-8, 11-15 to defend themselves. I think when speaking in tongues, shouldn’t it be a language that people on earth use? Since in Acts 2:6, the foreigners heard their own languages spoken by the worshipers who had no knowledge of other languages? And also, what is the point of Holy Laughter anyways? How does it glorify God when preaching and teaching are replaced by constant laughing?

The Holy Laughter followers seem to have forgotten these verses:

“Ephesians 5:18-20 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In other words, be of a mind that doesn’t make you act or look like a drunk.

Galatians 5:22, 23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

Right there clearly in verse 23: Self Control!!! I don’t see that in Holy Laughter, especially when I see people laughing uncontrollably, falling on the floor, acting like animals, spasms and more.

When I watch the videos on youtube, at times I get tempted to laugh along with the people. Is that an evil sprit getting into me? Probably not since those were recordings and I wasn’t there. Or maybe I am just laughing at the people for how funny they sound. Or maybe it’s that laughter is contagious. But I really shouldn’t be laughing because those people have no idea what they are under.

I believe the Holy Spirit can make you act in ways that give glory to God, that give joy to Him, such as when David danced before God in 2 Samuel 16:14. and during Pentecost in Acts 2, where there was speaking of tongues.

Holy Laughter appears to have similarities to practices done in certain eastern religions and cults. Such as in Kundalini, which is a practice done in Hinduism. Check this video and notice the similarities between what the followers of Kundalini go through and what our own church revivals do. [link]

It’s almost as though Rodney Howard Browne and other revivalists have stolen the techniques used in Kundalini to trick or hypnotize their followers into believing that what they see is the Holy Spirit.

Rodney Howard Browne has said some pretty awful things too.

"Either You come down here and touch me, or I will come up there and touch You" (The prayer Howard-Browne prayed before he got the supposed "anointing") (Holy Laughter, Albert James Dager, 1996)

Wow. Ordering God around and threatening Him? Must be a miracle that Browne is still alive today.

"Take another drink...the bar is open....Be filled! We loose the power! Have another drink!" (Rodney Howard-Browne, Charisma, August 1994, pg. 24).

No thanks….I’ll stick with a nice strawberry-banana smoothie, thanks. I don’t want any of your demonic Holy Laughter drink. Better yet, I rather drink from the well Jesus described in John 4, so I would never get thirsty again.

“I am drunk, I am drunk. Every day of my life I am drunk. I've been drinking down at Joel's place every night and every day. I am drunk on the new wine." Then he asked us all to lift our hands and "let that river of joy come out of your belly." ("An Evening with Rodney Howard-Browne" (from the Newswatch column of the Christian Research Journal, Winter 1995, page 43) by Julia Duin)

Joel’s place! That looks like fun! Where I can act drunk and laugh it up! Even though that’s not what Joel 2:28 and 29 meant. Supporters of Holy Laughter refer to those verses, taking the “pouring” out of context when God meant that the Holy Spirit would be put on people. “Pouring” was used as a metaphor, not as an excuse to be “drunk” in the Holy Spirit.

"You really cannot understand what God is doing in these meetings with an analytical mind," he said. "It's not a move of man, it's a move of God. The mind is never going to understand what God's doing....The only way you're going to understand what God's doing is with your heart." ("An Evening with Rodney Howard-Browne" (from the Newswatch column of the Christian Research Journal, Winter 1995, page 43, by Julia Duin) and (Holy Laughter, Albert James Dager, 1996)

Yet, Jeremiah 17:9 reads: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

"You can't have revival without stirring up the flesh....When revival comes you will see manifestations of these three things in meetings: (1) the Holy Spirit; (2) the flesh, and (3) the devil. But, I'd rather be in a church where the devil and the flesh are manifesting than in a church where nothing is happening because people are too afraid to manifest anything...Don't worry about it. And if a devil manifests, don't worry about that, either. Rejoice, because at least something is happening!" (Rodney Howard-Browne, Charisma, August 1994, pg. 24).

Yeah…people laughing nonstop at church over nothing. I guess that must mean something is happening. Even though the devil is involved, it’s okay! Because at least the Holy Laughter is going on, right? Ugh, how did he get away with saying that?

“One night I was preaching on hell,' Howard-Browne says, 'and [laughter] just hit the whole place. The more I told people what hell was like, the more they laughed'" (Rodney Howard-Browne, Charisma, August 1994, pg. 24).

Yeah, because Hell is SO funny! Knowing that’s where people will end up who don’t receive Jesus must be really funny to everyone at Browne’s revivals. And maybe it's really funny to Browne also.

Also, I know this guy who is a new-ish Christian, and he went to a Rodney Howard Browne conference. He didn't like it, because of the weirdness like you mentioned above. His mom is a wiccan, and he knows some of the stuff that goes on in the wiccan church. And he said it was almost identical to what goes on in RHB's meetings. He said, "I can't believe Christians are falling for this."

I was watching a video with this very sermon in it (Holy Ghost Bartender) on youtube and I still scratch my head and think "WTF was he drinking when he was preaching THAT?!" (I know he was sober but still you'd have to drunk under a table or completely out of your mind to say such a thing)

Indeed. Also the fact that he was widely accept by other well known teachers was scary enough. There's another false teacher I plan to expose in the future who does similar "drunkeness" but takes it to a whole new level.

This spiritual drunkenness CAN'T be of God. Now when I received the Holy Ghost, there was a spiritual joy in me like never before. I went from crying in despair from being tormented by my sins, into happily praising and laughing in joy to the Lord. If you read my testimony in my Journal called "National Coming Out Day; My Coming Out", it's all in there. There were other times when I laughed joyously while under the influenced of the Holy Ghost.

HOWEVER...this type of laughing just seems like sheer foolishness, no anointing, nothing is being taught, there's no order, and everyone is just acting like a bunch of clowns. This can't be of God. It just can't be.

That's...really frightening actually.I say it's just a twisted excuse to get drunk. You're right, pointless laughing like that doesn't glorify God in any way what so ever.If I were an atheist and this was my first introduction to "Christianity", I'd just think they were some messed up cult.

Thankyou for sharing this, I never even heard of it before but it's good to know what to watch out for.It upsets me to see that people would use God as an excuse for something so useless. It's bad enough the majority of the rest of the world has subjected themselves to constant mindless drinking...

There was a video released by the Baptist Church in the 1990's called "A Plague in the Land", whereby a lot of what you are saying here is exposed. Rodney Howard Browne is exposed in this video. It is scary how is behaving. Many people at the Bible College I was at, at the time fell for it all, and became arrogant. That they had something we did not. And it divided people in the college. I lost friends who were seduced by these spirits at the college. Friends who said the Baptist video I had was demonic and trying to stop the blessing. Many people became like animals in the Church services, which is well known in witchcraft as "familiars". I thought, would they not be better going out and witnessing the gospel to the lost and sick? It saddened me that good people I knew were so readily swept away with it all. And then thinking that they were elite. We all must be sober and alert and carefull.Thanks for this series you are doing and all your effort you are putting into it.

Wow, it's sad that this movement divided everyone there like that. Thanks for the comment and we do always need to be careful. They forgot what Paul wrote on accepting one whose faith is weak, even if they can't agree.

I believe that you are right about the "Holy Laughter" movements; there is no natural laughter involved, and it just doesn't seem holy.

That being said, I believe God intended man to laugh fairly often. After all, natural laughter releases hormones and chemicals throughout the body that boost the immune system, slow down aging, improve bodily function, promote all kinds of growth, and even suppress some kinds of mental issues. Why would God attach so many good things to something bad?

Anyways, I believe that sometimes it is important that a preacher incorporate a little humor in his sermon now and then. For instance, I had a pretty bad depression attack last night, and if the pastor hadn't told a hilarious story about childhood Easter pictures, I may not have found any joy in this of all days (Easter Sunday).

Also, I agree lack of self control is not truly of God and the best thing to look to is creation. In Genesis 1 the Spirit of God created order from chaos. Our God is a God of order. True there can be some craziness, but there has to be some order. I can have fun and go crazy without getting drunk and still maintaining some kind of self control. God is not a God of complete and utter chaos but of some kind of order.

Many verses in Scripture, both Old And New Testament, condemn getting drunk and that kind of lifestyle. Therefore, the Holy Spirit would not indulge in something He already condemned. Also, God has made our minds. While we can't understand everything intellectually, we can understand somethings and God renews minds. Also this is mockery of the devil. If we can help it, God's people are to have NOTHING to do with Satan in the form of us seeking him out encouraging his company. If anything, the devil should find you and not you find him.

He got away with it because everyone is drunk and their minds aren't in it. Hence why the Bible calls us to not get drunk!

Is there not something in the bible about not mocking the devil? That sounds exactly like what laughing at hell is. Egh...I'll just praise the Lord that I hadn't heard about this before and pray--since there's not much else I could do without offending everything in the world.

Well Rodney Howard Browne came from South Africa, but yeah these preachers have come from all kinds of places, sometimes introduced by other false preachers. Or maybe it's God's punishment? Some people think God is punishing Americans by allowing many false preachers because most Americans it seems don't show interest in studying their Bibles and following Jesus right.

Strange that some people would think that God is punishing Americans with false teachers. I would think if that's the case what's going on in other countries and continents regarding their false religions and suppression of the Christian faith.

Perhaps... I'd say it's part of God;s punishment because they chose to walk away. Also, Jesus said that false teachers and preachers would rise up between his first and second coming. Guys like him are just signs that we are moving towards the end. It's what I just did my thesis on.

Well, that's true of pretty much anything, be it hedonism or drugs or cults or whatever. Experiences and feelings totally aren't everything. Something can feel good or right and still be totally wrong.

never heard of this Holy Laughter...sounds like this guy almost seems to not take the Bible seriously if he's laughing to much. It's so sad to see people like this who lead many people (Christ-followers included) down the wrong path that will only end up in destruction.

Well I haven't seen Browne actually do the laughing yet, but helps other pastors and congregations get started in it. Holy Laughter doesn't seem as popular as it used to, but I think some churches still do it.

I do agree. I've been in several meetings with this "holy laughter" was going on and it was intensely creepy. But I have been in a few small gatherings where we did laugh, but not the for the whole meeting over nothing. We just got tickled. And there's nothing wrong with laughing just because you're full of joy. Even in a casual meeting.

This comment has little to no reference to said preacher, but more about the issue I'm sorry, but I think you've misinterpreted a lot about Holy laughter & being drunk in the Spirit....I believe David was sort of 'drunk in the Spirit' when he danced before the LordAnd on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples & other believers in the upper room...the people in the streets actually thought they were drunk ...but one of them (Peter, I'm pretty sure) said "we are not drunk as you suppose ......." (not drunk with alcohol)I will always believe in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.....it can make you act in ways that the world thinks are silly nonsense....David's wife didn't see the dignity or point of it eitherTo me being drunk in the Spirit means being overtaken by the Joy of the Lord....

I...I've held my tongue as long as possible with this series....it stirred up something in me from the very begining.....my heart sank into the pit of my stomach when you said that you believed Oral Roberts was a false preacher...& then to see nobody else speaking up at all I....I totally don't wanna start any trouble. And I still love your Modern Christian comic I just ...IDK...I just had to speak what I deeply believe is the Truth....at least once....there...I spoke my peace.....

.....I guess we just have to disagree on some stuff....sorryas I said, I still love the work your doing on the comic

I know what you mean, but I have to ask, why then was Holy Laughter introduced about 1994? Why then and not before? I did read of suppostly other church followers centuries ago doing it, but then why hasn't it been kept? Why hasn't it proven itself as a real move of God so that it's always done? It seems like Holy Laughter was treated as just a fad. And why do the mannerisms of Holy Laughter look similar to some eastern religons taught by guru's and such?

It still goes on today...and maybe some people are faking...but it's also a real thing, happened to my mom, she was overcome with the Joy of the Lord & started laughing & crying (happy crying) every time it happened she loves it, it's Joy & Peace, really feeling the presence of God.I know what you mean that some people when they laugh, it sounds weird..but, people DO sound weird when they laugh that hard IDK how else to say it.... a deep unrelenting joy that makes you feel so good you laugh so hard you can't hardly catch your breath to talk ...so much power that you wanna get loud ...can't hold it in...plus sometimes it sounds deeper (and weirder) when it's a man, with his deeper voice. I can see how it would confuse & even scare a little kid that's been raised to believe that "Christians & people in church are to be quiet calm serious & dignified" bleh! I was raised in Church that let the Spirit move..people danced, the preacher preaches with passion, getting exited about the Word, people were slain in the Spirit, talked in Tongues, other people got the interpretation, people were healed....In the Church I go to now, we jump & dance & shout & sing in our worship....I'll never understand how anyone can stand to attend a 'dignified' Church..I'm not saying that people who choose such Churches aren't saved or aren't going to Heaven or don't love God.but why....WHY? would you wanna miss out on ALL that God has for us?

now I have to say agian, that yes, some people fake stuff =_= almost every real thing about God can & has been twisted and/or faked by the devil & the world...gives true Christianity a bad name

You do realize there is more than one way to connect to God, right? Some people connect in the way you described, but others are content with just standing and singing before the Lord. Other people prefer to sit in solitude or read a section about God in one of their good theology books. Others like walking in nature or attending a church that focuses more rituals and liturgy.

It really isn't your place to judge them or call to criticize how they connect to God just because it is different from yours. I'm sorry, but if that's what your church is teaching you, that the only way to connect to God is via the charismatic path and all the other ways are missing out, then there is a problem.

that's not what I meant, I just meant that I don't understand how people enjoy it so quiet, but then agian others don't understand the loudness ..heh anywho, no they don't teach that it's the only way to worship. but whatever someone's comfortable with, so long as it teaches the truth. sorry if I came across mean really sorry

Also, you prefer loudness and stuff because that's how God made you and He created you to connect to Him best that way. In the same way He created me to connect to Him and worship Him best by simply sitting alone and reading one of my theology books. That doesn't mean I don't need the loudness once in a while, any more than you don't need silence once in a while, as some kind of balance is important. It's just how God made you .